Open or close server ports

Open server ports for remote access

IMPORTANT: Making this application’s network ports public is a significant security risk. You are strongly advised to only allow access to those ports from trusted networks. If, for development purposes, you need to access from outside of a trusted network, please do not allow access to those ports via a public IP address. Instead, use a secure channel such as a VPN or an SSH tunnel. Follow these instructions to remotely connect safely and reliably.

By default, cloud servers launched through Bitnami Cloud Hosting have their ports closed to secure them against external attacks. This is done for all ports apart from ports 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS).

If you need to access your server remotely using a different port, you must first open the necessary port(s) using the Bitnami Cloud Hosting dashboard.

Select the “Firewall” tab in the lower half of the screen and click the “Add Custom Firewall Rules” button.

In the resulting dialog, enter the port number, the protocol and the source IP. Set the source IP address to “All” to allow access from anywhere.

Click “Add” to add the new firewall rule to the system.

As an example, review the image below which demonstrates opening port 21 (the FTP port) for access.

Your firewall rule comes into effect immediately without any need to restart the server.

NOTE: You can also set a new port as default by adding it to the default firewall rules. Click the “Edit Default Firewall Rules” button from the “Firewall” tab. In the resulting dialog, enter the port number, the protocol and the source IP.

Close server ports and deny remote access

To close a server port and deny remote access on that port, follow these steps:

Find the firewall rule for the port you wish to close and click the “Delete” button next to it.

Your firewall rule comes into effect immediately without any need to restart the server.

NOTE: You can also close a default port by deleting it from the default firewall rules. Click the “Edit Default Firewall Rules” button from the “Firewall” tab. In the resulting dialog, select the port you wish to close and click the “Delete” button next to it.